Non-volatile data storage devices have enabled increased portability of data and software applications. For example, multi-level cell (MLC) storage elements of a memory device may each store multiple bits of data, enhancing data storage density as compared to single-level cell (SLC) memory devices. As another example, a memory device with a three-dimensional (3D) memory configuration may include multiple layers of storage elements, thus increasing data storage density compared to a two-dimensional (2D) (or “planar”) memory device. Consequently, memory devices enable users to store and access a large amount of data.
A flash memory device may be associated with a write endurance, such as a number of program/erase (P/E) cycles that can be performed at storage elements of the memory device without impairing reliability of the storage elements. For example, after a large number of P/E cycles at a flash memory device, stored data may become unreliable due to physical wear associated with the programming and erase operations. As a result, a flash memory device may count P/E cycles for each block of the flash memory device so that wear is “distributed” approximately evenly among the blocks.
In a flash memory device, a single erase operation may erase data in a large number of storage elements. For example, a single erase operation may erase data from each storage element of each word line of a block of the flash memory device. Thus, P/E cycles may be tracked efficiently at a flash memory device by counting erase operations (e.g., based on a count of erased blocks). Other memory devices may operate differently than a flash memory device. For example, certain resistance-based memory devices may enable programming and/or erasure of individual storage elements (instead of groups of storage elements, such as blocks). In this case, counting P/E cycles of each individual storage element may be commercially infeasible, particularly for high density data storage devices.